In slide bearing applications as well as in roller bearing applications, it is already known to use ceramic bearing components. Ceramic bearing components can, for example, be rolling elements, bearing rings or cages of a roller bearing, bearing seals or a slide bearing.
EP 0 366 433 B1 discloses ceramic bearing modules and a process for the production of bearing modules of this type. The bearing modules are formed of a ceramic material which contains metallic components including several of the elements iron, nickel, chromium, and tungsten in an amount of 3500 ppm or less. In the disclosed process for the production of a ceramic roller bearing module, the ceramic raw material powder is converted into a paste form. The paste is granulated, formed into the desired shape, and sintered. During the process, metallic components are reduced to a residual value of 3500 ppm or less.
Although ceramic bearing components have already proven themselves effective because they have a comparatively long life-time even under extreme conditions such as, for example, high temperatures, high rotational speed or loss of lubricant, the use of ceramic bearing components has previously been restricted to the field of special applications. This is due to the fact that the production costs of the bearing components with the application of known production processes clearly exceed the production costs of comparable bearing components of steel.